Solitude

Thirty-One

"She can't ignore you forever... Right?" Bubblegum looks concerned as she stares at me and I shrug.

Cece gets really strong emotions sometimes and while I totally respect them, I hate when she doesn't speak to me.

"Come on! He was being nice to me and I didn't want another Praise situation," I try to reason with her but she doesn't even look back.

Her heeled slippers stomp the pavement as she quickens her pace at an attempt to get rid of me. However, I notice she slows a bit when she finds she's put too much distance between us.

She's upset enough to not want to walk beside me, but not upset enough to actually abandon me. It's quite sweet if it wasn't so aggravating.

I pass an imploring look to Bubblegum. I don't really know if she can do anything to make Cece talk to me right now, but I'm desperate.

"Cece, our feelings should be communicated with words, not silence," Bubblegum sounds like a fortune cookie but somehow, it does the job of getting my best friend to stop walking.

We catch up to her and now, we're standing in the middle of the pavement, inconviniencing everyone else, but at this moment, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that my best friend isn't upset anymore.

For a while, no words are spoken. We just stand here waiting for Cece to gather herself. She looks lost; like she's feeling a million emotions and she doesn't know how to deal with any of them. She sighs and looks up to me and her emerald eyes twinkle underneath the tears that are yet to fall.

"I just wanted desperately for there to be a problem with him because if there is, then maybe their relationship would end sooner rather than later. You like him though. You think he's nice, so now I don't know what to do."

There is a vulnerability in her eyes that is so rare to see. So beautiful, yet so painful. I want to tell a lie, I want to tell her that he's awful and Jason is going to realize it soon enough and leave him. I want to tell her he probably doesn't even like Jason and is just using him. I want to tell her anything that'll fill her with hope.

I can't. I can't lie to my best friend like that, so I wrap my arms around her instead, pulling her in for a hug which she is quick to return.

I feel another person's hand on me and I smile at the fact that Bubblgum joined us. There's something so sacred about this moment. There's something about the energy around us that makes it feel like everything i8s going to work out fine and we're all going to be okay.

"It's gonna rain soon," Bubblegum speaks up as she pulls away from us.

Or it could just be the rain and not some spiritual, earthly healing energy whatever.

I pull away from Cece and she's smiling at us. It's not a happy smile, just one that tells us she appreciates us for being there for her. I throw an arm around her shoulder and she offers a chuckle as we continue our journey.